The World Wide Web as we know it today only exists because of the ability to fund website publishers’ work through advertising. This funding model is being challenged on multiple fronts, often in the name of privacy. Like many other socio-political trends, some privacy advocates are truly advocating for user rights, while others are using privacy as a lever for business gains. In either case, regulations and technical restrictions limit the viability of internet advertising, requiring publishers to move to alternative funding mechanisms, such as subscriptions and walled gardens. Neither of which protect privacy and both of which favor large companies over diverse independent content producers.

This interactive discussion will examine events leading to this shift, what is truly being protected against by deprecating third-party cookies, and possible unintended consequences of using first party data in lieu of third-party cookies to maintain a free and open internet.